Underage and binge drinking (i.e., drinking to intoxication) are serious public health problems. Despite substantial efforts to change this health risk behavior, current levels of binge drinking in young people in the U.S. appear to be relatively unchanged from year 2000 levels. The constancy of underage and binge drinking behavior in young people, despite increased attention to this crisis, begs the question of what unexamined factors may be contributing to the problem. One possible variable that may be contributing to excessive drinking in young people is the new trend of consuming of alcohol mixed with energy drinks (AmED). Despite a dramatic increase in the use of AmED in young people, little laboratory research has examined how these drinks alter objective and subjective measures of intoxication. The working hypothesis of this proposal is that the consumption of AmED may be riskier than alcohol consumption alone. Mixing alcohol with another beverage with strong stimulant properties may decrease self-perceptions of intoxication and may increase the reinforcing properties of alcohol. In addition, the acute effects of alcohol impair impulse control, and this impairment may not be counteracted by co-administration of a stimulant. The proposed research will examine the acute effects of alcohol, energy drinks, AmED or a placebo beverage in social drinkers. The effects of these beverages will be determined by performance on tasks that measure neurocognitive control mechanisms and the subjective effects of alcohol. The specific aims of the proposed research are: 1) to determine whether the consumption of AmED alters neurocognitive and subjective measures of intoxication compared to the consumption of alcohol alone, 2) to establish whether the consumption of AmED enhances priming of the motivation to drink alcohol compared with the consumption of alcohol alone, and 3) to examine whether the consumption of AmED enhances tolerance to alcohol compared to a similar history of the consumption of alcohol or energy drinks alone. The results of these studies should elucidate whether the consumption of AmED increases alcohol consumption and may be escalating binge drinking in young people. Consistent with AREA program objectives, the funding of this application will also expand undergraduate student research in human psychopharmacology and better enable students from Kentucky, a state traditionally underrepresented in biomedical sciences, to successfully advance in biomedical graduate programs. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Underage and binge drinking (i.e., drinking to intoxication) are serious public health problems, leading to a significant number of accidents, injuries, unsafe sexual activities and deaths. The goal of this project is to understand if the consumption of alcohol mixed with energy drinks (AmED) increases alcohol consumption and escalates binge drinking in young people to a greater degree than if alcohol is consumed alone. This research will provide information about how AmED consumption may be increasing the risks of alcohol consumption by leading a drinker to perceive that he or she is less intoxicated and thus can consume more alcohol.